


New Truths

by Bouzingo



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Carlos is also maybe freaked out, Cecil is freaked out, M/M, Spoilers for Episode 33
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-16
Updated: 2013-10-16
Packaged: 2017-12-29 13:38:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1006069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bouzingo/pseuds/Bouzingo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos comes over. Cecil is destroying cassette tapes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New Truths

Carlos comes over to Cecil's place, a little bit concerned and intrigued by the evening's broadcast. The door is ajar, and so he lets himself in cautiously. Cecil is sitting on the floor in his living room, destroying cassette tapes with his bare hands. The radio blares techno-klezmer, which Carlos usually finds agreeable but in this setting is eerie and ill-fitting.

"Cecil, what..." he says, and has to give pause when Cecil looks up. His eyes are wild and a bit more bloodshot than usual. All thoughts of questioning Cecil about whatever experience he had however many years ago vanish from Carlos' mind. He has never seen Cecil so furious. He's distracted too, eyes glancing to the side even while he focuses on the demolition of those bits of tape and plastic. Carlos sits down with him.

"I did not make these," Cecil growls, crushing a tape in his fist. "No I did not not. I would remember."

"Okay," Carlos says quietly.

"You must not doubt me. I _remember_ what I've done," Cecil says. " _I remember_."

"So what do you think happened?" Carlos says. Cecil looks away.

"I don't know. Maybe someone went back in time and... maybe I was messing around with my cassette player and made up everything. Maybe StrexCorp... they might have," Cecil looks behind him suddenly, shudders. "It makes no sense."

"Why do you keep looking behind you?" Carlos asks.

"Because I can see _it_ again. Just outside of my periphery," Cecil says, looking again. "Someone planted those tapes, Carlos. They are playing on my sometimes unreliable recollection. They want me to be scared. But I'd remember..."

He trails off, empty fists clenching. His frustration is palpable.

"I am very good at learning new truths, Carlos," he says, with a hint of bitterness. "Not this time. None of that happened."

"Cecil, if it didn't happen, what did?" Carlos asks, because while he doesn't want to upset Cecil, thoughts of denial and Occam's Razor are flitting through his mind and all Cecil can offer him are vague conspiracy theories.

Cecil shakes his head, defeated.

"It can't have been anything so momentous, or I would have..." he falters. "That didn't happen. I know this. I just... I don't know what happened instead."

He looks perplexed and frightened. It's not a good look on him.

"You believe me, don't you?" Cecil says lamely, brushing away the pieces of cassette from the carpet.

"If you say it didn't happen," Carlos says, "Then I'll believe you. Until we learn more."

He wishes he had something better to say, but the fact is he's a little frightened too. And he really wonders if the two of them would be better off not learning anything more from the ruined cassettes.


End file.
